


Am I likeable?

by Storyflight



Series: Be my friend, Girl (Friend!) [21]
Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Awkward Conversations, F/F, Femslash February, Forehead Kisses, Implied Crush, Implied Relationships, New Dangan Ronpa V3 Spoilers, Pre-Canon, Pre-Game Akamatsu Kaede, Pre-Game Personalities (New Dangan Ronpa V3), Pre-Game Shirogane Tsumugi, Spoilers, Yikes, it's not as dark as fanon, not really - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-28
Updated: 2020-02-28
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:07:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22912222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Storyflight/pseuds/Storyflight
Summary: “Well, not everyone is the polar opposite. Rantaro is the same as they are, same with Himiko and me” she takes a sip of her coffee, a bland flavour similar to herself. “And then the polar opposites like Ryouma and Maki. Why? Do you want to know how I have you?”“...I suppose. I was curious about Shuichi’s, but I would like to know if I have a decent standing. Am I a likeable character?”---As season 53 is in the works, Tsumugi has thoughts on how her cast will be shaped
Relationships: Akamatsu Kaede/Shirogane Tsumugi
Series: Be my friend, Girl (Friend!) [21]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1625326
Comments: 3
Kudos: 19





	Am I likeable?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ToxicPineapple](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToxicPineapple/gifts).



> I’m not a fan of writing pregame stuff because it like...leaves a nasty taste in my mouth. The fandom is like “let’s have it heavily NSFW and abusive” and I do not vibe with that
> 
> This is something I worked on in December but never finished. Here we are!

_Shirogane, we trust you on making the best cast for this season._

The words repeat in her head as she scribbled messy sketches, merely character designs and notes for later. Her office is dim except for a lamp barely illuminating the room, a little beige light there to make sure she doesn’t hurt her eyes. She’s been up for hours trying to pinpoint both the cast and manager’s desires, and it’s _hard._ Tsumugi wants this to be the best season, they had the last one rather rough and need to listen to their audience.

_We need more sexy characters!_ One review said, like that’s going to happen. They wanted to have fanservice in her precious show. Perhaps they can squeeze it in with Miu. At the moment, she’s a bright inventor as requested and on the protagonist's side. She’s on the road to be a survivor, but maybe Tsumugi can change it up. _She can live for a while, but not too long. We have Rantaro dying in chapter five and then Kaede facing turmoil because that’s her crush...eugh, why do we have to have her fall for them?! Whatever…_

The feeling of someone pressing their palms on both sides of her head increased. If she keeps this up, Tsumugi will develop a migraine and miss her deadline. She rolls out of her chair and stretches, boy that left good. It’s time to get a refill of her coffee. _Then_ she can go back to her little hermit hole and work on the best season.

She’s not doing it alone, Tsumugi has a whole team working with her and even the cast can pitch in ideas. Maki, who requested to be the Ultimate Child Caregiver and a blackened, suggested a small plot twist in the story. That’s when Tsumugi wrote in _Ultimate Assassin: Maki Harukawa._

“Hm?” She swore she heard someone call her name, must be imagining things. Tsumugi lazily reaches over for the pot and pours a generous amount of the caffeinated beverage in her _Witch’s Heart_ mug. Time to add some cream and a sprinkle of sugar.

_Make sure that Angie and Gonta are sweet, we need more sweet and loving characters in the series. Then there’s representation, that’s where Tenko comes in with being a lesbian in and out of the show. Kirumi is Aromantic Asexual, so she will be in the show too. No point in forcing a relationship on her if she’s uninterested in a relationship. Sure, everyone will be a different character, but a sliver of them would be their real selves._

“Shirogane?”

Ah, someone was calling her. She continues swirling her coffee and nods at the blond facing her. It’s Kaede Akamatsu, a comic relief for Danganronpa. She, her new self, is going to be goofy and lighthearted, the polar opposite of her nihilistic self. “Akamatsu, do you need me?”

“I have a question” she partly holds out her arm, “The personality of the characters...how do you have it?”

“Well, not everyone is the polar opposite. Rantaro is the same as they are, same with Himiko and me” she takes a sip of her coffee, a bland flavour similar to herself. “And then the polar opposites like Ryouma and Maki. Why? Do you want to know how I have you?”

“...I suppose. I was curious about Shuichi’s, but I would like to know if I have a decent standing. Am I a likeable character?”

“You…” she tilts her head, a likeable character? That could go two different ways, one where you would love to be their friend if you knew them (So far, Korekiyo) or they are so evil that you cannot help but love them (at the moment, Kirumi). “What do you mean?”

“Am I happy? Do I smile more? I don’t know...would the audience look at me and say ‘I love her?’”

Yes? She has that ‘everybody is a friend attitude’ but also ‘wow, you’re so stupid’. Kaede is teaming up with Maki the protagonist and Rantaro the cold one. There’s needs to be the one “idiot” and that’s her, for now. Everything is still in the drafts, they still haven’t thought about a talent for her. “Yeah, you have a...happy and headstrong attitude” she lies, “Is that fine?”

“Yeah, for once I’ll feel good about myself even if I don’t know. I don’t even care if I end up dying, thanks Mugi”

“Mugi?”

“It’s a nickname, I’m sure saying that sounds wrong but…” she crosses her arms, “whatever”

_Akamatsu as a protagonist. Headstrong but still bubbly. No matter what, we wanted to have a female protagonist since it’s been years since we have had one. Perhaps she would be a better fit than Harukawa._

Maybe Harukawa can be the cold one and Rantaro? Not sure yet. Kokichi fits better for an evil character, perhaps she will give him and Kirumi a small connection as an Easter egg for herself. _I’ll make this the best season, I will show them._

“I’ll make you into the perfect image, Akamatsu. Just watch, everyone will adore you once the season rolls in. That’s a promise”

Her violet eyes grow wide and bright. Her eyes have _never_ turned into a lighter side, they always possess a dark tint and low as Kaede stays distant with everyone. _Distant my ass. She’s going to love everyone and be loved by the rest._ “I’ll give you what you want. Do you want to be a likeable character? One of the best? That’s what you will receive. Because of you, we are going to have the best Danganronpa season”

Kaede gives her a half-smile, still sincere. “That’s a lot of pressure on me, don’t you think?”

“Don’t worry your pretty head about anything” she leaves a peck on her forehead, a gesture that she gives all of her colleagues, and heads back to her office. The blond girl waved goodbye and walked back to where Shuichi was sitting. 

(Shuichi is scheduled to be the Detective and becomes the blackened after chapter one)

She pops the top of her ballpoint pen with her mouth and crosses out everything. _Everything._

There’s a much better idea Tsumugi has and damn, it’s going to be great. 

* * *

Tsumugi walks into the lab. Not her lab, Kaede’s lab. The protagonist, or, once past protagonist. Her personal favourite, the one who was going to change it all.

She did, however. 53 finished seasons and 54th is the first with the death of a protagonist. They’ve had two protagonists, ambiguous one, first-person point of view, and then this. Tsumugi bites her bottom lip and closes the door behind her.

The sheet music once scattered on the group was picked up. It must have been from Saihara, she’s certain that he stumbled into the lab and sulked in here. Cannot be angry about it, she’s doing the same.

The grand piano is collecting dust already. The keys remained clean with no traces of fingers pressing down on black and white. 

_ Did I give her what she wanted? Was she likeable? She’s likeable to me, both fake and real.  _ Tsumugi holds her hands close to her chest,  _ but what if the audience thinks otherwise? What if she thinks she’s a waste? _

No, she’s not a waste. None of her characters are a waste, Kaede especially. She worked way too hard on her (only to be wasted in the end) to be such an ideal character, an ideal friend, an ideal  _ girlfriend.  _ Perhaps Tsumugi projected a bit with that, oh well, what’s done is done.

Maybe things will change once this season is over. She’s ready to have Kaede either befriend one more time or loathe her. There’s no in-between, never.

  
_ I can’t stay here any longer.  _ Tsumugi drags herself out of the lab and shuts the door, so slow and quiet, the sound of it closing and clicks inside barely echoed. Alright, she has a job to do, it’s time to get going with this game. 

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact: I really disliked Kaemugi for a long long LONG time but then Toxic opened my eyes


End file.
